• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Steinberger-style Pivot Plate?

diegom

diegom

Supporting Member
Jun 18, 2008
1,623
3,272
Los Angeles/Hollyweird/The Valley
#1
Have any of you, fine Woodworking gentlemen (and ladies) ever considered making Steinberger-style Pivot Plates for fun and profit?
For the longest time I've been thinking about it (My most crude and incredibly successful version was made out of a suit hanger! Damn, it broke!!!).
I thought that perhaps some of you with the skill and equipment could make a short-run for all the owners of wooden copies...

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, it is a plate that screws to the back of the paddle-shaped basses and helps the fit and balance when worn with a strap:

DSC00188.JPG
102_0131.jpg


Any ideas?

Diego
 
  • Like
Reactions: radiofreerich, Count Bassie and Ken U
#4
Well, I'm technically capable of making the parts. I make up custom metal hardware for other Luthiers, including various kinds of plates. That's part of my daily business. But, I'm not interested in doing one-off custom orders for individual Steinberger owners.

If you, or someone, can get the information together (pictures, dimensions, etc.), for a group order of 5 or 10 or whatever, then I can quote you. But I'd want to do a batch at one time, all going to one customer. Not a mess of individual orders.

You know where to reach me. I'm always hanging around here, helping folks and starting technical arguments.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WRM, BassToGoGo, wraub and 4 others
#8
Diegom for a standard bass or a Steinberger copy? The idea may not work well for a heavy standard bass, it looks like the weight will cause the bass to flop forward too much, because to work the pivot needs to be close to the centre of mass, but that will cause forward-flop. It probably worked for the original Steinbergers because they were so light.
Clever placement of strap buttons can make a bass balance stable at many angles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Count Bassie
#9
ixlramp said:
Diegom for a standard bass or a Steinberger copy? The idea may not work well for a heavy standard bass, it looks like the weight will cause the bass to flop forward too much, because to work the pivot needs to be close to the centre of mass, but that will cause forward-flop. It probably worked for the original Steinbergers because they were so light.
Clever placement of strap buttons can make a bass balance stable at many angles.
Click to expand...
Considering that a good quality used Steinberger pivot plate can easily go for over 200 USD, I'm thinking this is a good idea and it would be for Steinberger users, or Steinberger copies...
 
#10
I built a pivot for my Spirit XT, a couple months ago. What a great improvement in comfort and balance. The pivot was always one of the features that I thought was so cool in the original Steinberger designs.
I built mine from 1/4" aluminum a thrust bearing and some commonly available hardware and strap buttons. I have about $20 in materials into it. I'm a pretty good woodworker, but don't have a lot of experience with metal working. The aluminum is soft enough that I could use a lot of woodworking tools (power and hand tools). I spent a lot of time researching, designing (engineering) and looking for hardware, as I didn't have a pivot to use as an example.
I thought about offering them for sale, but there is a lot of time involved! I learned that template shaping, filing and sanding aluminum isn't hard, but takes a lot of time when you don't have metal working tools.
Like Bruce said, it might be worth it for someone to run a batch of 5-10, especially if you have access to computer aided cutters and boring equipment. Getting the bends right was a little tricky without some type of a brake. I had to use a bench vice and a big long pipe clamp as a lever to make the bends.
I have templates and material lists, and resources if anyone is interested.
As a tip... I used a big ass suction cup, hung from a rough plywood template, on the back of my bass to find the pivot point. I found that my center of balance was slightly north of the neck line which countered the tendency for the bass to tip forward.
Steinberger Strap Pivot 017.jpg
Steinberger Strap Pivot 034.jpg
Steinberger Strap Pivot 040.jpg
Steinberger Strap Pivot 045.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: bitterminnows, BergerXL25, Chickenwheels and 10 others
#15
Ronzo said:
@Ken U Looks great! I’ve been searching for this for a long time to use with my Spirit XT. If you decide you’d like to build a second one, please PM me with the price. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Thanks, @Ronzo!
My biggest issue is time. I had to put a bunch of things on the back burner to build mine. There was a lot of hand shaping, sanding and polishing which I found takes a lot of time with aluminum. I will definitely hit you up if I can clear some time and get around to building another. Thanks for the interest!
 
  • Like
Reactions: diegom
#16
Ken U said:
Thanks, @Ronzo!
My biggest issue is time. I had to put a bunch of things on the back burner to build mine. There was a lot of hand shaping, sanding and polishing which I found takes a lot of time with aluminum. I will definitely hit you up if I can clear some time and get around to building another. Thanks for the interest!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, @Ken U ! I can be patient.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ken U
#18
diegom said:
That looks EXCELLENT!!! I always thought wood would be easier to work. I didn't even think of bending aluminum, instead of carving wood. At 1/4" I'm sure that was no easy task!
Congratulations!

Diego
Click to expand...
Thanks, @diegom! My original plan was to use wood. Then I realized that most of my woodworking tools could also be used to work soft aluminum. So, I went with that.
I had never seen a swivel in person. It wasn't until I purchased all of my materials that someone sent me some detailed pictures (on and off a vintage bass) and I realized there were some compound bends. I kinda freaked out about bending it.
I clamped the part in a bench vice and used the longest pipe clamp that I had as a lever to make the bends. I made a couple bends then held it against my body and just adjusted until it felt comfortable. It actually turned out to be easier than I thought. The bends also allow the strap buttons to clear the body when the swivel is turned all the way around to go in the gig bag.
Steinberger Strap Pivot 025.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Conor Hartwell, John_Nicholas, radiofreerich and 4 others
#20
@MPU, if you can get the swivel dimensions, you might have a nice little side business on your hands. People pay a lot for the pivot plates when they pop up. Does anybody know if the swivel mechanism was a proprietary design or some off the shelf parts Ned found?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back